This article is based on a study of the existing literature and field work on sites of pilgrimages. It is structured in three parts: pilgrimage and space, the polysemy of pilgrimages and a ...presentation of three examples of pilgrimages. First we discuss the relationship of pilgrimages with space. Going on pilgrimage implies a “displacement” towards a “particular place”, where there is an “internal circuit” laid out for pilgrims and visitors. Finally, we point out the “territory of recruitment”, where the pilgrims live. In a second part we discuss the polysemy of the pilgrimages. Persons may go on pilgrimage towards historic places of a religion to “revive” its message. It may also be “an act of devotion” or a “penitential activity”. Pilgrimages were and still are an “affirmation of an identity” and finally we stress “the logic of requests”. These are analytical distinctions but pilgrimages are mostly a combination of these functions. Finally, we present three examples of pilgrimages: one to the Relic of the Holy Blood of Jesus Christ in Bruges (Belgium), another to a Marian sanctuary in Banneux (Belgium) and finally the pilgrimage to St James of Compostela (Spain).
Tracing the changes in the objectives and the projects of the members of our association, the purpose of this lecture is not to retain a nostalgia for the past but to propose new types of research in ...line with our history. Even if we may rejoice in the work done – the extension of the religious field studied, the development of paradigms, the use of a more sophisticated methodology and the internationalization of our work – an important research theme is missing. We need to study other meaning systems than those elaborated by religions, since in different parts of the world the impact of religion is declining on the societal and individual levels. Are people searching for meaning in their life? What are their sources of meaning? How should we study methodologically the present search for meaning?
The Intimate Karel Dobbelaere; Alfonso Pérez-Agote
2015, 20150228, 2015-02-27, Letnik:
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The waning influence of the Catholic church in the ethical and political debate. For centuries the Catholic Church was able to impose her ethical rules in matters related to the intimate, that is, ...questions concerning life (from its beginning until its end) and the family, in the so-called Catholic countries in Western Europe. When the polity started to introduce legislation that was in opposition to the Catholic ethic, the ecclesiastical authorities and part of the population reacted. The media reported massive manifestations in France against same-sex marriages and in Spain against the de-penalization of abortion. In Italy the Episcopal conference entered the political field in opposition to the relaxation of several restrictive legal rules concerning medically assisted procreation and exhorted the voters to abstain from voting so that the referendum did not obtain the necessary quorum. In Portugal, to the contrary, the Church made a “pact" with the prime minister so that the law on same-sex marriages did not include the possibility of adoption. And in Belgium the Episcopal conference limited its actions to clearly expressing with religious, legal, and anthropological arguments its opposition to such laws, which all other Episcopal conferences did also. In this book, the authors analyse the full spectrum of the issue, including the emergence of such laws; the political discussions; the standpoints defended in the media by professionals, ethicists, and politicians; the votes in the parliaments; the political interventions of the Episcopal conferences; and the attitude of professionals. As a result the reader understands what was at stake and the differences in actions of the various Episcopal conferences. The authors also analyse the pro and con evaluations among the civil population of such actions by the Church. Finally, in a comparative synthesis, they discuss the public positions taken by Pope Francis to evaluate if a change in Church policy might be possible in the near future. Research by GERICR (Groupe européen de recherche interdisciplinaire sur le changement religieux), a European interdisciplinary research group studying religious changes coordinated by Alfonso Pérez-Agote. Contributors Céline Béraud (Université de Caen), Karel Dobbelaere (KU Leuven/University of Antwerp), Annalisa Frisina (Università degli Studi di Padova), Franco Garelli (Università degli Studi di Torino), Antonio Montañés (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Maria João Oliveira (University of Porto), Enzo Pace (Università degli Studi di Padova), Alfonso Pérez-Agote (University Complutense of Madrid), Philippe Portier (École pratique des hautes études, Paris-Sorbonne), Jose Santiago (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), Roberto Francesco Scalon (Università degli Studi di Torino), Helena Vilaça (University of Porto), Liliane Voyé (Université Catholique de Louvain)
The author insists on the need to take the social-structural context into account to evaluate the existing types of definitions of religion. Proposing a definition for the Western hemisphere, he then ...checks his definition against sociological studies referring to 'new types of religiosity' and concludes that sociologists should differentiate between meaning systems - of which religion is a sub-division - and spiritualities. In a second step, he discusses two sociological theories about religion and insists that sociologists should be more careful in using such theories by taking into consideration the type of religion the theory is concerned with. Finally, he suggests that rational choice theory and secularization theory might well be integrated and applied in a European context if we move to the level of the competing existing meaning systems.
Taking into account the analytical distinction between system levels, this article proposes an integrated perspective of the different processes related to secularization. Several levels of analysis ...are discussed: the macro, meso, and micro levels, and the interconnectedness between them. Secularization is seen here as the particularization in the religious subsystem of the general process of functional differentiation on the macro level. The purpose is to propose a more integrated theoretical view of secularization and related processes rather than a paradigm, and to stimulate international comparative research.
The author proposes a reflection on challenges that the three anthropological articles in this issue present for secularization theory. The first two discuss “performances” of religion in two ...different Chinese cultural periods: welfare services offered by recognized religious associations in the People’s Republic of China and the judicial rituals in colonial settings. The author suggests similarities with such “performances” in western culture. The second part of the article discusses some issues raised by Szonyi in his comparison of recent social research literature on Chinese religion and sociological literature on secularization: a critique of the concept of “modernity” in relation to secularization; a reflection on the possibility of establishing a secularization theory with universal validity; how to integrate rational choice theory and secularization theory; the validity of secularization in view of individual religious sensitivity; and secularization as an ideology and a discussion of the so-called “privatization of religion” in secularized settings.
Les articles anthropologiques réunis dans ce numéro de Social Compass constituent un défi pour la théorie de la sécularisation. Les deux premiers traitent des “performances” de la religion durant deux périodes différentes de l’histoire de la Chine: les services sociaux qu’offrent les associations religieuses reconnues par la République populaire de Chine et les rituels judiciaires durant la période coloniale. L’auteur suggère, tout d’abord, qu’il existe des similitudes entre ces “performances” et ce qui s’observe dans la culture occidentale. Il discute, ensuite, de certaines questions soulevées par Szonyi, questions fondées sur la confrontation de la littérature chinoise récente portant sur la religion avec la littérature sociologique sur la sécularisation. L’auteur critique l’emploi du concept de modernité dans une discussion portant sur la sécularisation ainsi que l’assimilation de la théorie de sécularisation à une idéologie. Est-il possible de construire une théorie de la sécularisation ayant une validité universelle? Comment intégrer cette théorie et celle du choix rationnel? Quelle est la pertinence de la théorie de la sécularisation pour la sensibilité religieuse individuelle? Que penser de ce que l’on appelle la “privatisation de la religion” dans les régions sécularisées?
After having described the historical basis of the process of pillarization in Belgium, the author explains the emergence of the Catholic pillar as a defence mechanism of the Catholic Church and the ...Catholic leadership to protect the Catholic flock from secularization. He describes the different services the Catholic pillar was offering for its members and the development of Belgium as a state based on three pillars: the catholic, the socialist and the liberal one that were all three institutionalized. This structure meant that Belgium was rather a segregated country that was vertically integrated. In the sixties of last century, the pillar was confronted with a growing secularization of the population, which forced the leadership of the pillar to adapt the collective consciousness: the Catholic credo, values and norms were replaced by so-called typical values of the Gospel integrated in what is called a Socio-Cultural Christianity. Under the impact of the changing economic situation, the politicization of the Flemish question and the emergence of Ecologist parties, the Christian pillar had to adapt its services and is now based on clienteles rather than members. Only in the Flemish part of Belgium is it still an institutionalized pillar.
After having described the historical basis of the process of pillarization in Belgium,
the author explains the emergence of the Catholic pillar as a defence mechanism of
the Catholic Church and the ...Catholic leadership to protect the Catholic flock from sec-
ularization. He describes the different services the Catholic pillar was offering for its
members and the development of Belgium as a state based on three pillars: the catho-
lic, the socialist and the liberal one that were all three institutionalized. This structure
meant that Belgium was rather a segregated country that was vertically integrated. In
the sixties of last century, the pillar was confronted with a growing secularization of
the population, which forced the leadership of the pillar to adapt the collective con-
sciousness: the Catholic credo, values and norms were replaced by so-called typical
values of the Gospel integrated in what is called a Socio-Cultural Christianity. Under
the impact of the changing economic situation, the politicization of the Flemish ques-
tion and the emergence of Ecologist parties, the Christian pillar had to adapt its serv-
ices and is now based on clienteles rather than members. Only in the Flemish part of
Belgium is it still an institutionalized pillar.
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